Importing PowerPoint Presentations

You can create a new movie by importing a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation. You can also import PowerPoint presentations into existing movies.

PowerPoint Features in Mimic

The following describes how certain PowerPoint features are handled when you import slides into Mimic.

Feature	Imported?
Background Images	Yes
Images	Yes
Master Layout Slides	Yes (converted to master frames)
Objects	Yes
Shape Groups	No
Smart Shapes	No
Text Boxes	Yes

How to Create a New Movie by Importing a PowerPoint Presentation

1. (Optional) If you want the movie to be part of a collection, first create the collection and make sure it is open (see Creating a Movie Collection). Otherwise, if you want to create a standalone movie, skip to the next step.
2. Select File > New. In the New dialog, click Import PowerPoint.
3. At the end of the PowerPoint File field, click .
4. In the Open dialog, locate and double-click the Microsoft PowerPoint (PPT file) that you want to import.
5. (Optional, if you are creating a standalone movie) If you want the resulting Mimic movie to be stored in a different location than the one shown, at the end of the Target Folder field click . In the Browse For Folder dialog, find and select the folder where you want to store the new movie, and click OK.
6. (Optional) If you do not want to use the name of the PowerPoint file to be imported, you can enter a new name in the Movie Name field.

7. (Optional) If you have objects such as text boxes or images in your PowerPoint slides, the default action is to import them into Mimic frames as objects; you can then edit these objects as you like. However, if you want to flatten all of those objects into each frame when they are imported, click Import Slides as Background Images.

   Tip Why would you want to use one method over the other? You might want to keep this option deselected if you want to do lots of editing in the Mimic movie and need to be able to adjust the objects as needed. On the other hand, you might select the option if you are content to edit all of your objects beforehand in PowerPoint. When you import the slides as background images, you will usually end up with a higher quality image and the objects and text will appear just as they do in PowerPoint, but you won't be able to edit them further in Mimic.

8. (Optional) By default the new movie will be the same size as the PowerPoint slides that you are importing. However, if you want the new movie frames to be a different size, you can click Change Movie Size and then enter the width (first field) and height (second field) of the new frames in pixels.

   Tip It is recommended that you maintain the same proportion of the slides when you import them, even if you might be reducing or increasing the overall size of the slides. For example, if the source PowerPoint slides are all 10 inches wide and 7.5 inches high, you will have better results if you resize the movie frames to 500 by 375 pixels, as opposed to, say, 500 by 500 pixels. In addition, if you do not select the "Import Slides as Background Images" option, you will likely need to reposition your objects after the movie frames are resized.

9. Click Next.
10. On the next page of the wizard each slide from the PowerPoint presentation is shown. This gives you a chance to include or exclude specific slides in the import. By default all slides have a check mark next to them. To exclude a slide from the import, click the check box next to it in order to remove the check mark. You can use the "Select All" or "Deselect All" to quickly add or remove check marks for all slides. In addition, the Show Images check box lets you see a visual representation of each slide.
11. Click Import. The PowerPoint slides are imported and the new movie is loaded into the Mimic interface.

How to Import PowerPoint Slides Into an Existing Movie

1. Open the movie.
2. In the Frames window pane, select a frame. The new frames created as a result of the import will be added after that frame.

3. Do one of the following, depending on the part of the user interface you are using:

   • Ribbon Select the Frame ribbon. In the Insert section, select PowerPoint.

   • Local Toolbar In the Frames window pane, click .

   • Right-Click In the Frames window pane, right-click a frame and from the context menu, select PowerPoint Slide(s).

   The Import PowerPoint Wizard opens.

4. At the end of the PowerPoint File field, click .
5. In the Open dialog, locate and double-click the Microsoft PowerPoint (PPT file) that you want to import.

6. (Optional) If you have objects such as text boxes or images in your PowerPoint slides, the default action is to import them into Mimic frames as objects; you can then edit these objects as you like. However, if you want to flatten all of those objects into each frame when they are imported, click Import Slides as Background Images.

   Tip Why would you want to use one method over the other? You might want to keep this option deselected if you want to do lots of editing in the Mimic movie and need to be able to adjust the objects as needed. On the other hand, you might select the option if you are content to edit all of your objects beforehand in PowerPoint. When you import the slides as background images, you will usually end up with a higher quality image and the objects and text will appear just as they do in PowerPoint, but you won't be able to edit them further in Mimic.

7. Click Next.
8. On the next page of the wizard each slide from the PowerPoint presentation is shown. This gives you a chance to include or exclude specific slides in the import. By default all slides have a check mark next to them. To exclude a slide from the import, click the check box next to it in order to remove the check mark. You can use the "Select All" or "Deselect All" to quickly add or remove check marks for all slides. In addition, the Show Images check box lets you see a visual representation of each slide.
9. Click Import. The PowerPoint slides are imported into the movie.

What's Next?

After you create a new movie, you can enhance it in several ways (e.g., inserting additional frames, adding effects, adding objects). When you are finished enhancing the movie, you can build it. See Editing a Movie and Building Movie Output Using the Interface.